Q: What should I include when writing the reasons for recommeding preferred reviewers?

Since the practice of suggesting preferred reviewers has often been misused, which is why many journals consider it a good practice to include reasons for recommendation for author-suggested reviewers. 

Here are a few points you should keep in mind when providing your reasons for recommending reviewers:

• When a journal wants you to suggest reviewers, they want a list of relevant people who would be able to provide objective and constructive criticism of your paper. 
• Preferred reviewers should never be selected keeping only your paper’s acceptance in mind. Therefore, do not choose anyone whom you personally know so well that their opinion could be biased in your favor. It is always preferable to select someone who would be able to give an objective evaluation of your paper.
• Do not select reviewers who might have conflicts of interest with your paper. Your recommended reviewers should be ones who would be interested in your paper and have a good knowledge of the field, so that they can give their unbiased opinion and also suggest efficient ways of improving your paper.
• One good place to look for suggested reviewers would be authors who are on your reference list or whose works form the most important basis of your manuscript, as they would have substantial knowledge of your field.

Unfortunately, we do not have any template that you can use for the purpose. However, the above pointers should guide you on some of the reasons you can mention when suggesting reviewers. 

Recommended reading:

• Why should I select preferred reviewers and how should I do it?
• Do I need to provide the names of preferred reviewers to the editor?